As political theater went, Harry Reid’s closed session of the Senate yesterday was beautiful. Republicans complained that it was a stunt. Of course it was a stunt; it was an effective one at that. Dems had a legitimate complaint, they waited patiently, and Republicans assumed Dems had neither the means nor the courage to do anything about it. They assumed wrong.
Without counting to 10, as anger-management experts recommend when you are very, very mad, [Majority Leader Bill Frist] exploded.
“About 10 minutes ago or so, the United States Senate has been hijacked by the Democratic leadership!” [Frist] announced. Never, he said, have “I been slapped in the face with such an affront to the leadership of this grand institution. … This is an affront to me personally. It’s an affront to our leadership.”
Actually, that’s a pretty accurate assessment. Reid was effectively slapping Frist in the face. Reid was saying Frist and other GOP leaders have been negligent in their responsibilities and it was time to remind them of their commitments. Frist & Co. weren’t listening when Reid and others made reasonable requests, so Dems needed a stunt to get their attention.
It was the latest in a long line of examples in which Harry Reid has spun Bill Frist like a top.
The attention on the theatrics, while entertaining, are, however, secondary to the substance behind the Dems’ complaint. It’s important to take note of exactly what it was that sparked yesterday’s confrontation in the first place.
Before last year’s election, the Senate Intelligence Committee, led by Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), was set to consider Iraq-related intelligence from before the invasion. Roberts announced the committee would divide its work into two parts. Phase One, which was completed, analyzed mistakes made by the intelligence community about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein. Phase Two would have scrutinized ways in which the Bush administration misrepresented intelligence on Iraq before the war began.
Except that didn’t happen. Phase One was completed and published, and stuck to the GOP line that the CIA screwed up. Phase Two, which Roberts had assured the nation would be completed before voters went to the polls, was put off indefinitely.
In March 2005, Roberts said that Phase Two probably wouldn’t ever be completed. In fact, he dismissed the significance of the very idea and announced that he was satisfied blaming the CIA and letting the White House off the hook entirely.
Yesterday, Roberts reversed course again, saying, “It isn’t like it’s been delayed. As a matter of fact, it’s been ongoing.” This isn’t exactly consistent with Roberts’ insistance that Phase Two is a “monumental waste of time” in explaining why the report may never see the light of day.
This is why Harry Reid closed the Senate yesterday. Senate Dems waited two years, while Senate Republicans hoped to sweep the unpleasantness about the president under the rug. Reid responded (ahem), “We can do better.”
Republicans condemned the Democrats’ maneuver, which marked the first time in more than 25 years that one party had insisted on a closed session without consulting the other party. But within two hours, Republicans appointed a bipartisan panel to report on the progress of a Senate intelligence committee report on prewar intelligence, which Democrats say has been delayed for nearly a year.
“Finally, after months and months and months of begging, cajoling, writing letters, we’re finally going to be able to have phase two of the investigation regarding how the intelligence was used to lead us into the intractable war in Iraq,” Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters, claiming a rare victory for Democrats in the GOP-controlled Congress.
At one point yesterday, Frist said this wouldn’t have happened if Tom Daschle were still the Senate Dem leader. That’s probably true; maybe Frist should have thought of that before he helped smear Daschle out of office.
Careful what you wish for, Bill.